My lifelong passion is to hike the Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada. To me, there is nothing more fulfilling in life than to exercise, explore, and do anything that involves the great outdoors. Some of my favorite activities include extended back country hikes, running, paddle boarding, open ocean swimming, snorkeling, biking, riding quads in the desert, jet skiing, riding horses, Yoga, Pilates, boating, landscaping, gardening, fishing, and dancing. The list goes on and on…. Unfortunately, over the last ten years my knees started swelling up after exercising. At first the inflammation would come and go, but my condition advanced and my knees would swell up so much that I could barely bend them. Once inflamed, it would take weeks to get the swelling to subside. For the last year and a half, I have had persistent inflammation on my knees that never goes down completely and even simple movements cause pain on the front of my knee. After several appointments with my primary, x rays, MRI’s, and a consultation with an orthopedic surgeon, I was told I have a genetic defect where the bones do not line up correctly and it causes compression on the inner knee joints. The MRI’s revealed that my left knee has grade 4 Osteoarthritis and significant deterioration of the cartilage on my right knee. The Ortho doctor said I would definitely need full knee replacements in the future and that the only way to slow down the progression would be to start hyaluronic acid injections. If this didn’t work, they would move to cortisone shots followed by surgery. My heart broke with the realization that I would not be able to maintain my level of physical activity and that the majority of all the outdoor activities I LOVE were not possible anymore. Thankfully I have been going to Good Vibrations Family Chiropractic for over 7 years now and I discussed my prognosis with Dr. Stacey Merlo. Dr. Stacey recommended that I have a consultation with Ozzy to see if he could help. This is where the story gets interesting… I was so defeated by the grim future that the Ortho doctor painted, that I really felt like I was wasting my time. But I trusted Dr. Stacey and from the first visit with Ozzy I have a completely different perspective. There are no words that adequately express my appreciation and gratitude for the education, hands on therapy, guidance, and empowerment Ozzy has provided. From the first session I noticed a huge change in the way my body moves, and my flexibility has increased significantly. More impressively, after just a few sessions the persistent inflammation in my knees is gone, my leg muscles seem to have reawakened, and they are literally changing before my eyes. The mobility and stability drills have become a daily routine for me, and I have noticed a change elsewhere too. My lower back and hips are not tight and painful anymore and my knees no longer have sharp pains when I move certain ways. Ozzy is amazing, he puts his heart and soul into his work, he truly cares for people, and he is so knowledgeable and talented. The soft tissue therapy (in the begging) is not for the faint at heart, but it gets easier as time goes on. I put my trust in Ozzy’s healing hands and he is a true professional. Ozzy didn’t promise me the moon and the stars to get my money and sell me an idea that will never come to fruition. He was realistic with me and my condition, but he saw that there was a chance to restore my soft tissue to a healthy and balanced state. Ozzy has given me my life back, he continues to empower me, train me to correct my body alignment, break down the locked-up tissue, and strengthen the weak muscles that are needed to support and maintain healthy joints. I am now able to do corrective exercises without pain, and I look forward to an active future free from surgeries and injections....
Read moreOzzy at 365 Optimal Health and Fitness is a true coach. Initially I began my training with Ozzy in the gym, seeking to improve my physique. Quickly Ozzy saw that I had other health issues that needed to be addressed in conjunction with our gym time. He began by helping my body detox in a HEALTHY way, combining natural supplements with an ultra clean diet with lots of hard work on the stair master. Slowly we added more and more to my diet, believing that a life long change in health had to be combined with healthy foods that are ALSO delicious. He would literally take me shopping at Trader Joes to make sure I was getting a balance of foods that would help me attain goals while maintaining flavor profiles that anyone can easily love for life!! Ozzy is also keen to notice any stress your muscles might experience to do a rigorous training regimen or otherwise. He notice the toll that a life behind the bar had taken on me and immediately we began intense physical therapy sessions. These sessions are not for the weak of heart. Combining a thorough knowledge of the human muscular, ligature and cardiovascular systems and the newest equipment with an in depth understanding of massage and ART therapy Ozzy is able to directly target and naturally resolve most issues that someone might face do to pains associated with high activity jobs, hobbies or passions. Though I have not worked with Ozzy professionally since I have became a father, he has always continued to share his wealth of knowledge with me. Continuing to care about my health long after I wrote my last check, like a good coach. I can still turn to him anytime for advice or guidance, and in this way has superseded the value of nearly every other service I have paid for!! Take Ozzy as a trainer and physical therapist, and you will have an adviser and...
Read moreBefore I was introduced to Ozzy, my body was not in a good place… actually I was in great pain, and it was affecting my life negatively. In SEPT 2023, I had meniscus surgery on my left knee. I was struggling during recovery despite my doctor saying I was good to go; giving me a green light to “do whatever I wanted to do”.
In addition to my knee pain, I had been dealing with chronic neck pain and numbness down my left side. This would come and go over time but was extremely frustrating and annoying. I went through an MRI and numerous doctor visits along with physical therapy … all without much if any improvement.
I love to play golf (as much as possible) and also want to enjoy playing/ coaching my young kids sports as they grow so feeling healthy without pain is not only a priority, it is a necessity.
Thankfully I met Ozzy in NOV 2023 and put my trust and commitment into Ozzy’s program to get my body back to good health. Ozzy explained body alignment and that I was dealing with scoliosis, kyphosis and knee misalignment from years of working a desk job and ignoring my body... basically just wear and tear of living life. Over the next 10 months or so, Ozzy’s program helped fix all my problems. My back and neck no longer show scoliosis or kyphosis and my knee pain is gone. My neck hasn’t bothered me basically since I started Ozzy’s program. I was able to put on 20+ lbs of muscle to help protect my joints and fix my misalignment issues…. All thanks to completing Ozzy’s program.
All in all I am so thankful for Ozzy’s help and commitment to my well-being. Ozzy truly cares about me and I greatly appreciate his dedication...
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